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Range anxiety

Fear of insufficient vehicle range, especially in electric vehicles

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The term "range anxiety" was first reported in the press on September 1, 1997, in the San Diego Business Journal by Richard Acello referring to worries of GM EV1 electric car drivers. On July 6, 2010, General Motors filed to trademark the term, stating it was for the purpose of "promoting public awareness of electric vehicle capabilities". The Norwegian equivalent rekkeviddeangst was assigned second place in a list of Norwegian "words of the year" for 2013 by the Norwegian Language Council.

The main strategies to alleviate range anxiety among electric car drivers are the deployment of extensive charging infrastructure, the development of higher battery capacity at a cost-effective price, battery swapping technology, use of range extenders, accurate navigation and range prediction and availability of free loan vehicles for long trips.

According to a study by the American Automobile Association, the cure to range anxiety is owning an electric vehicle.

Responses to range anxiety

The range anxiety will limit the ability of the all electric car to be used in certain specific applications, even if the battery costs come down. - Bill Reinert, National manager of advanced technology at Toyota’s U.S. arm, 2010

Range anxiety may be exaggerated, as recent studies have concluded that most daily trips can be accomplished within the range of an inexpensive electric vehicle.

The concern that users of all-electric vehicles may become stranded has led to public calls for extensive public charging networks. As of December 2013, Estonia was the only country that had deployed an EV charging network with nationwide coverage, with fast chargers available along highways at a maximum distance of between 40 and 60 km (25 and 37 mi), and a higher density in urban areas. Estonia's land area and population density are likely factors that have made this viable. Care should be taken in comparing with other countries, since it is smaller than many first level subnational divisions, it is half the size of West Bengal and three counties in the USA have a larger land area.

Electric vehicle manufacturers have sought to quell range anxiety concerns through increased battery capacities to extend the vehicle's range. REVA has a proprietary technology called "Revive", which is a battery reserve that can be released by electric vehicle users by texting or calling an operations center. Using a range extender solution, as implemented in the Chevrolet Volt or the BMW i3, the internal combustion engine switches on to recharge the battery before it is empty. Another method is the proposed Ridek modular vehicle approach whereby a vehicle's chassis could be exchanged for one containing a larger-capacity battery at a network of chassis-exchange stations before embarking on a long journey.

Since lack of information can be a contributing factor, a good navigation system with knowledge of the battery capacity and remaining distance can minimize the fear. There is also the possibility to minimize the fear before buying a vehicle.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) has started a road-recharge pilot program in six cities: Knoxville, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Tampa. EV-driving AAA members can use the truck's level 3 charging capacity to recharge a Nissan Leaf to 80% capacity in 30 minutes.

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